System and Method For Modular Roof Apparatus

ABSTRACT

A rooftop system having modular basins that includes a system of trusses that may form one or more receptacles suited to receive one of several different kinds of modular basins. Such a system may be deployed on a rooftop of a building having a substantially flat roof or a roof with a low slope such that the entire exposed top side of the roof may be covered by the system. Then, each receptacle may have a modular basin suited to provide some functionality to the system.

BACKGROUND

Buildings, such as commercial, industrial and some residential, may typically have flat roof tops. Flat roof systems for buildings are simple, inexpensive and practical given the application at hand. That is, because a roof top is rarely useful for any other purpose other than keeping weather out, a flat roof top design is most practical for many applications wherein aesthetics is of no concern. As a result, many buildings in existence today have a simple flat roof top.

Flat roof tops, while however practical, are also less-aesthetically pleasing than other types of rooftops such as common A-Frame, or other slanted roof tops. Further, such flat roof tops tend to gather precipitation that needs to be collected and drained appropriately. Further yet, a typical flat rooftop may have a tarred overcoat that is black. Such a black rooftop also absorbs heat from radiant light more readily and therefore causes a greater load for any air-conditioning system in hotter climates. In short, the practicality of flat rooftop systems is limited to the single function of keeping climate out of a building.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of the claims will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows an isometric diagram of a system for providing modular basins in a rooftop system for a building according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 shows a side of the modular basin system of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following discussion is presented to enable a person skilled in the art to make and use the subject matter disclosed herein. The general principles described herein may be applied to embodiments and applications other than those detailed above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present detailed description. The present disclosure is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and features disclosed or suggested herein.

By way of overview of an embodiment, a rooftop system having modular basins may include a system of trusses that may form one or more receptacles suited to receive one of several different kinds of modular basins. Such a system may be deployed on a rooftop of a building having a substantially flat roof or a roof with a low slope such that the entire exposed top side of the roof may be covered by the system. Then, each receptacle may have a modular basin suited to provide some functionality to the system. For example, a vegetation modular basin may provide a means growing grass or plants on the roof. Other examples include water filtration basins, HVAC basins or simple walkway basins. Such a system provides additional functionality to a roof as well as additional benefits from creating an air gap between the modular basins and the roof top. Such an air gap provides an additional insulating factor to the building. Such a system is shown and described below with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 1 shows an isometric diagram of a system 100 for providing modular basins 142 in a rooftop system for a building according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. In this embodiment, the system 100 includes trusses 136 that may be deployed on a building rooftop 135 and used to support modular basins 142 in square or rectangular cavities. As such, each cavity (e.g., cavity 141 shown without any modular basin 142) is suited to receive a modular basin 142. The trusses 136 may be secured to each other at junction points 105 as well as at the location where the girders meet an edge 139 of the rooftop 135. As is typical, a rooftop 135 may not only include a flat surface (e.g., a roof) but also guard rails 139 or protruding structures that extend beyond the level of the flat surface. Such extended sections are often provided for safety or structural support reasons. The system 100 may also be attached directly to the roof surface on buildings without protruding structures.

Depending on the size a rooftop 135, the system 100 may include cavities for several modular basins 142. In the example embodiment shown in FIG. 1, there are receptacles for at least eight modular basins 142. This is only an example and other system may include more or fewer cavities arranged in any pattern. Further, the pattern may include spaces (e.g., cavity 141) not taken by any modular basin. Such a cavity 141 may be provided for roof access, stairwells, elevator shafts, skylights, etc.

Additionally, the trusses 136 may be aligned with structural members of the building itself to take advantage of already engineered structural design. As such, the system 100 may includes internal supports 133 that be aligned with load-bearing members 132 of the underlying building. Similarly, the trusses 136 may also be aligned with building trusses 134 so as to keep loads aligned with the structural engineering of the building.

Each modular basin 142 that is deployed may be suspended by the trusses 136 such that an air gap 110 is formed between the bottom of the basin 142 and the rooftop 135. Further, the modular basins 142 may be rectangular as shown in FIG. 1 or may be other shapes such as triangular, circular, trapezoidal, or any other shape. As such, the particular pattern of modular basin 142 may be fit together such that the entire rooftop is covered by the plurality of modular basins 142. In such a case, the air gap 110 provides an additional insulating factor to the building which may help with both heating and cooling systems. Further sunlight and other weather elements are prevented from impacting the rooftop and any damage over time may be done to the easily exchangeable modular basins 142.

Each modular basin 142 may also include some functionality suited for use on a rooftop. For example, a modular basin may include functionality suited to be used for vegetation as shown in modular basin 138. As another example, a modular basin 121 may include a functional device suited for a particular purpose. Such a device may be an HVAC module for providing air exchange inside the building. Other devices include an elevator actuation device, a water filtration or collection unit. A solar or wind power device suited to provide energy to the building. The functionality inherent to each modular device 140 provides a means for the building to take advantage of the overall modular rooftop system 100. Thus, the functionality of each modular basin 142 may provide the functionality to the building itself.

Such functionality improves the overall aspects of the building. Wind and solar power devices may provide electrical power generation to the building. Water filtration and collection devices may provide water for drinking, irrigation or fire suppression. Vegetation basin may provide better aesthetics and may qualify as environmentally-friendly improvement for the building itself for the purposes of complying with local, state, and federal regulations. HVAC devices provide heating, ventilation and air conditioning for the building.

FIG. 2 shows a side of the modular vegetation system of FIG. 1 according to an embodiment of the subject matter disclosed herein. In this view, one can see the system 100 includes trusses 136 used to support the modular basins 142 in square or rectangular receptacles. As is shown, the trusses 136 include angled or diagonal support members and may typically be made from a light-weight metal such as steel or aluminum (or alloys thereof) or a rigid plastic such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Further, the trusses 136 may also be hollow such that they are used in a water collection and filtration system for modular basins with that functionality or used in an irrigation system in the case of vegetation functionality. In other embodiments not shown, the individual members of the trusses 136 may be perpendicular to each other and includes only vertical or horizontal members. As is typical, the rooftop 135 may not only include a flat surface (e.g., a roof) but also guard rails 139 or protruding structures that extend beyond the level of the flat surface. The system 100 may also be attached directly to the roof surface 135 on buildings without protruding structures.

As was shown before, the trusses 136 may be aligned with structural members of the building itself to take advantage of already engineered structural design. As such, the system 100 may includes internal supports 133 that be aligned with load-bearing members 132 of the underlying building. Similarly, the trusses 136 may also be aligned with building trusses 134 so as to keep loads aligned with the structural engineering of the building. In this view, one can still see the functionality of some modular basins 142 such a modular basin 138 suited to be used for vegetation as shown. Further, a modular basin may include a functional device 140 and described above with respect to FIG. 1.

With the system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, all modular basins 142 may be sized similarly for a particular deployed system. As such, each basin 142 may be changed in and out for different modular basins with different functionality. Thus, a modular basin deployed with an HVAC unit 140 may be swapped out for an additional vegetation modular basin 138. All modular basins 142 are interchangeable.

While the subject matter discussed herein is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrated embodiments thereof are shown in the drawings and have been described above in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the claims to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions, and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the claims. 

1. An apparatus, comprising: a plurality of trusses interconnected to form a plurality of receptacles, the trusses suited to be disposed on a rooftop of a building; and at least one basin having at least one functional unit operable to engage at least one receptacle, the basin supported by one or more trusses such that the basin is disposed above and separate from the rooftop.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of trusses comprise steel.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of trusses comprise plastic.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each receptacle comprises a rectangular shape.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein each receptacle comprises a polygon having at least one curved side.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one functional unit comprises a vegetation unit.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one functional unit comprises a solar energy generation unit.
 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one functional unit comprises a wind energy generation unit.
 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the at least one functional unit comprises a heating/air conditioning unit.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a cavity disposed between the rooftop and the basin, such that the cavity comprises an air gap suited to provide an insulating layer.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a water collection system formed from the trusses, the water collection system providing irrigation to at least one basin.
 12. A system, comprising: a building having a low-slop rooftop; a plurality of trusses interconnected to form a plurality of receptacles, the trusses disposed on a rooftop of a building; and at least one basin having at least one functional unit operable to engage at least one receptacle, the basin supported by one or more trusses such that the basin is disposed above and separate from the rooftop.
 13. The system of claim 12 wherein each receptacle is engaged with a basin such that no portion of the rooftop is exposed to sunlight.
 14. The system of claim 12 wherein the functional unit comprises an energy generation functional unit that provides energy to the building.
 15. The system of claim 12 wherein the functional unit comprises an HVAC functional unit that provides heating, air-conditioning and ventilation to the building.
 16. The system of claim 12 wherein the functional unit comprises a water collection functional unit suited to provide water to the building that is collected from precipitation.
 17. The system of claim 12 further comprises an air cavity disposed between the rooftop and the basin and suited to provide an insulating function to the building.
 18. A method, comprising: protecting a building having a substantially flat rooftop from elements incident upon the rooftop, the protection provided by a system of trusses having receptacles wherein each receptacle contains one of a plurality of basins having a functional units, the plurality of basins forming a cavity between a bottom side of the basins and the rooftop.
 19. The method of claim 18, further comprising generating energy from at least one functional unit.
 20. The method of claim 18, further comprising collecting precipitation with at least one functional unit. 